Building footing or foundation supporting devices such as are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,539 issued Oct. 13, 1992, to McCown, et al., serve the function of permanently raising and supporting the foundation of a building at a desired level. Such an apparatus typically comprises, as its major structural elements, a pier or pile driven or augured vertically downward into the ground, a foundation supporting bracket for engagement with the undersurface of the footing or foundation of a building, and a yoke serving the function of fixedly suspending the bracket from the upper end of the pier. Where such an apparatus is used in geographic areas prone to earthquakes and seismic tremors, seismic shock waves may be transmitted to the building directly through the pier, causing damage to the building at the point of contact between the building and the footing or foundation engaging bracket. The instant inventive seismic shock absorbing pier protects against such damage by modifying such foundation supporting piers to provide a shock absorbing means cushioning the mechanical load bearing linkage between the pier and the foundation of the building. The instant inventive seismic shock absorbing pier provides further protection against such damage by interposing at the point of contact between the foundation and the bracket a friction reducing sliding element such as nylon plastic, or a deformable energy absorbing element such as rubber.